Pneumatic recoil-check for ordnance



(No Model.)

H. A; SPILLBR. PNEUMATIG RBGOIL` CHECK FOR ORDNANGE.

.Patented D60. 3,1895.

-- A l SMQ/141307,:

MNR 5511155 his ttozum.

AN DREW B-GRMEAM. PHmMTKaWAS-H l N GTN, DE.

lINrrED. STATES ATENT rricn.

HARRY A. SPILLER, OE BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO DNEU- MATIC GUN CARRIAGE AND POVER COMPANY, OEVHEELING, VEST VIRGINIA, AND WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

PNEUMATIC REooIL-CHECK Foa ORDNANCE.

SPECFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 550,654, dated lDecember 3, 1895.

' Application filed October 30, 1891. Serial N'.'4=l0,391. (No model.)

Zo all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, HARRY A. SPILLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Recoil-Checks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable oth- Io ers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to pneumatic recoilchecks.

The object is readily to take up the recoil and obviate or take up the counter-recoil of a gun to lessen the strain upon a gun-carriage incident thereto and to protect the recoil mechanism.v To this end I arrange one or more piston-cylinders under the top slide of the carriage thus protected from projectiles, with cylinder or piston connected to the movable part; in either case, the other being connected to the stationary part of the carriage, and where the cylinders are connected with the movable part, these being, preferably, inV one piece with the top slide. In the bottom or outer end or ends of the cylinder or cylinders-that is, in each cylinder where there are more than one-is adjustably iiXed one end of a valve, the same being a long rod or bar having end portions alike in cross-section and an intermediate portion diminishing in the direction toward and up to the end portion at the attached orV outer end. The piston of the cylinder is perforated, its perforation being connected with and of the same diameter as an opening-that is, a tubethrough the length of its rod, and is chambered, the chamber being open to the perforation and there being passages leading from the chamber to the other side-the rear side of the piston-and by these to the annular space around the rod, between the rod and the walls of the cylinder. The valve slides or is slid upon in the perforation in the piston and in the hollow rod, and its end portions fit the perforation snugly. The end portion of the valve opposite to the iiXed end is made of sufficient length to allow the pressure on the aeriform fluid from the recoil of the gun to be fully exerted until the requisite pressure is reached. This portion of the valve being thus proportioned in length,

a taper in the length of the valve then begins, extending as far as the other end portion, 'of like diameter with the first, diminishing the diameter of the valve intermediately until the end portion at the fixed end is reached. lThe extent of the opening from the perforation in the piston into its chamber and thence by the passages to its other side on movement of or on the valve along or over its tapered portion will vary, allowing a progressively-increased quantity of fluid to pass on the recoil through the rest of the travel of the cylinder or piston, the taper of the valve being' so chosen, calculated, and proportioned as to form a proper opening into the chamber of the piston to allow just enough fluid progressivelyto pass to retain the requisite pressure to the iinish of the recoil. In this way a great part of the work in taking up the recoil is saved on the carriage. At the termination of the recoil the pressure on each side of the piston will be nearly equal, enough fluid having been transferred to the other side, while the difference of area on the two sides of the piston will be suflicient to run the gun readily to battery. The end portion of the valve at the attached end, iitting t-he perforation in the piston, serves to prevent any'further escape of the iiuid when it reaches or is reached by the perforation in the piston,'and thus a safety-cushion is formed to prevent the piston from striking the head of the cylinder if by chance the initial pressure of fluid for doing the work should fail. The inner end portion of the valve closes the opening in the piston, and therefore during the iirst part of the recoil the air is compressed in the cylinder. This is allowed to continue until the compression necessary to take up the greater energy of the recoil is reached, whereupon the tapering portion of the valve opens a passage to the other side of the piston, the taper being such as to allow just enough fluid to pass behind the piston to compensate for the compressing effect of the cylinder as it continues to move toward the piston. Where this is not fully IOO done, there will be a counter-recoil; but when the pressure between the piston and the cylinder is such as just to take up the recoil and no more the reaction or rebound constituting counter-recoil is obviated. In case of any counter-recoil, when the end of the recoil is reached the orifice through the piston is open to its fullest extent, and when the counterrecoil begins the aeriform iiuid rushes through the passages in the piston to the chamber therein and through the orifices to the front side with full freedom; but as the movement of the counter-recoil becomes more rapid the opening in the piston is diminished by the increasing size of the intermediate portion of the valve until the compression-head is again reached, and as the motion is more rapid than can be the passage of air from the rear to the front of the piston a sufficient quantity of air will be trapped behind the piston to take up the counter-recoil, and, owing to the gradually-diminishing escape of air from the rear to the front of the piston, there will be no shock to the parts after firing.

In order to compensate for difference of energy resulting from reduced charges, the position of the valve in the recoil-cylinder may be changed by an adjustable attachment to the head whereby it can be extended farther into or out of the piston, thus presenting a proper cushion under differentpressures and maintaining a uniform recoil.

lVhere there is more than one cylinder, the cylinders will be connected by equilibriumpassages, and the aeriform iiuid, supplied through the hollow piston-rod, provided at its supply end with a check or non-return valve, and through a longitudinal passage in the valve opening into the recoil-chamber, and by the equilibrium-pipes to the other cylinder or cylinders, may thus come from a single supply and through a single conduit.

In the accompanying drawings, in which like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts and in which I show one of various ways of carrying my invention into effect, Figure l is a representation of the device where the cylinder is attached to the movable part of a carriage, with the piston-rod attached to the fixed portion thereof, being a View of the piston-cylinder in vertical central longitudinal section attached to the top slide of the gun-carriage, which appears in side elevation, with a portion broken away better to display the upper side of the cylinder and piston, the device being seen in the position assumed when the gun is in its retracted, depressed, or rear position-that is,

in its loading position. Fig. 2 is a view in rear end elevation of the movable part of the carriage and cylinders, with a portion of the stationary part in section, showing the cylinders and hollow piston-rods and the rear equilibrium-pipe; and Fig. 3 is a view in rear elevation of the piston, showing in dotted lines the position of the chamber therein, with the passages leading to the rear, and in full lines the openings of these passages to the rear, and in section the hollow piston and the perforated pressure-valve therein. f

In the drawings, A indicates a cylinder, with recoil-space A2 at the front and counterrecoil chamber A3 behind, equilibrium-pipes, (the rear one a2 only being shown,) and removable or adjustable head a3.

B indicates the perforated piston, C the hollow piston-rod, and D the valve. The perforation in the piston is indicated at l), the chamber in the piston at b2, and the passages therefrom to the annular space at the rear of the piston-that is, to the counter recoil spaceware marked b3. The tube of the piston-rod is indicated by c and the non-return valve by c2. The adjustable attachment of the perforated pressure-valve is shown at d, the pressure-head of the valve being marked d2, the cushion-head d3, the intermediate tapered portion d4, and the central passage through the valve from the hollow piston-rod into the recoil-chamber (Z5. The cylinder is in this example attached to the slide or movable portion E of a gun-carriage, and the pistonrod to a stationary portion F thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

rlhe combination with a cylinder, of a perforated piston having a passage connecting the perforation with one of its faces, a perforated piston-rod having its perforation continuous with the perforation in the piston and provided with a non-return valve through which aeriform fluid enters the piston-rod, and of a bar or rod-valve controlling the passage from the opening in the piston to a face thereof, said slide-valve having a passage through it opening at one end into the cylinder, and at the other end into the hollow piston-rod, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HARRY A. SPILLER. Vitnesses:

DAVID H. MEAD, F. B. KEEFER.

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